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An American Liberal almost dies but finds himself 100 years in the future. |
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"Happy Birthday, Calvin!â, Gerally said smiling in that way that always made Calvin envy her husband. How could she be so beautiful at 42, Calvin wondered. âThanks!â, he said giving her a hug. It would be as close as he would ever get to her but that was fine. He was happily married but enjoyed giving Gerally a quick hug. âHow old are you today?â, Gerally asked in her Puerto Rican accent. âIâm 50 today if you can imagine itâ, Calvin said. âDo I look 50?â, he asked. âNo, not one bitâ, Gerally said and then she went back to work. Calvin watched her walk away. Wow, her husband was a very luck man. Must be genetics for her to have a figure of a twenty year old. Gerally was the last to leave his desk, but he had many co-workers come over to his desk with black balloons saying, âOver the Hillâ and â50â. He sliced himself another helping of the chocolate cake as he considered his work. It was almost closing time and he had most of it done. As a computer software programmer, he loved his work. His favorite thing to program was video games and his company did that but usually as a 3rd party vendor. Most of the time he had no idea which video games he played a part in programming. He knew that his company received request for various types of programming and he wrote code for that. He imagined that sometimes it was used in games and sometimes it wasnât. He was flipping through what he needed to finish before he left and then noticed it was only five minutes before it was time to go. He finished his cake, tossed it in the trash and cleaned off his desk. He noticed everyone else leaving and he hurried to the time clock and clocked out and headed for the parking lot. It was hot outside. Feels like itâs at least 90 degrees, he thought as he climbed into his Ford Focus. He started it up and tuned in NPR. There was a news story about the Republicans seeking to block the President from his jobs bill. The Presidents plan was to use a few billion tax dollars to repair the roads. Didnât the Republicans understand that, he thought as he pulled out into traffic. He never understood why Republicans were against everything and for nothing. They claimed that something had to be done about the debt. But didnât the Republicans start the wars that increased the debt? Hypocrites!!! The Republicans increased the debt just as fast as the Democrats and then they wanted to complain about the debt! The debt would take care of itself, Calvin thought as he changed lanes into the fast lane. Calvin was headed home and he wasnât about to let the Republicans ruin his birthday. He turned on some classical music and pushed his car just over the speed limit. He wanted to hurry home to his wife so they could go out and celebrate. Lots to do! Calvin saw it but he didnât believe it. The traffic over to his left was going in the opposite directionâŚwhich was fine. What wasnât so fine was he saw an eighteen-wheelerâŚno, thatâs not right. It was one of those trucks that are larger than even eighteen-wheelers and this one was carrying something very large and it looked very heavy. He couldnât tell what it was carrying because it was wrapped in green tarp. Normally he would only give it a glance or two as he passed by but this wasnât a normal situation. No, it wasnât. What he saw was a couple small cars in front of it swerve into each other and crashed into the barrier near his lane. A few cars back the huge truck didnât seem to notice until it was too late. Calvin could see the driver slam on his brakes. A woman got out of one of the smaller cars and Calvin could see she had a small baby. She held up her arm as if she could somehow stop the truck. The truck was definitely going to hit her. The driver made a decision and, while he was still pushing on his brakes, pulled his steering wheel hard to his left. The barrier wall exploded and the truck headed straight for Calvin. Calvin quickly looked over to his left and could see that the woman and baby was safe. Theyâll be fine, Calvin thought as he pulled his eyes back to the truck. The driver pulled the wheel hard to the left again and Calvin saw that he was going to miss hitting the truck. Thank God! And then Calvin noticed something else. The cargo the truck was carrying was falling off in one massive piece. It was heading straight for Calvinâs car. There was no time. Calvin pulled his wheel hard to the left and the Focus turned sharply into the barrier. The front end crumpled and the front wheels somehow managed to bounce up and for a moment Calvin thought he was going to make it up and over the barrier. At that moment, the trucks cargo slammed into his car pushing it back down the road and into another truck. Both sides of Calvin's car pushed towards the center and then stopped. Is that it, Calvin asked himself. No. He could hear the cargo tipping over onto his car. Now the bottom and top of his car pushed themselves into the center. Calvin heard someone screaming for help and then he realized that it was him. A fluid entered his car and started to flood it. It was a silvery, chrome liquid and it was very, very cold. At least I wonât burn to death, Calvin thought. He shoved his head up as far as he could. For a moment, he thought it wasnât going to make it up to his mouth and nose. But it did. Now he was completely submerged in the strange liquid. Iâm going to die, he thought. Strangely, Calvin wasn't afraid. He closed his eyes and he could see the glow from the fluid and even though it was cold at first, he felt quite warm and comfortable. A part of his mind claimed the warmth must be coming from a fire. A part of him didnât care. There wasnât anything he could do about it. It was just time to die and he accepted that. He was glad that the woman and baby survived. He didnât know either of them but it was his life or theirs and he was glad to die for them. He wasnât sure why but he supposed it was just better that way. He had held his breath once the fluid covered him and now he started to feel the burning in his lungs. He had to breath or he would die. He started to feel fear. He had heard that dying by drowning was a very painful way to go. He knew it wouldnât be quick but it would end at some point. He held his breath some more and felt the heat coming from somewhere. He wasnât sure if it was an internal heat or external heat but he desperately needed to breath. He decided to take a breath. He closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath. âYou going to eat that?â, he heard a voice ask as air rushed into his lungs. He felt unbalanced and suddenly fell backwards as he pinwheeled his arms looking for something grab onto. He opened his eyes as the world seemed to rush about in unfocused abandon. He hit his head. Hard. He tried to get up but he was surrounded by several people telling him to stay put. He tried to open his eyes but they seemedâŚsoâŚheavy. Am I dying, he thought. He wasnât sure how much time went by but when he opened his eyes again, it was dark outside. He was in a small room with four other people. The beds were practically side by side with a little room for someone to walk in between the beds. He knew that because he could see a woman in a red uniform tending to one of people in a bed furtherest from him. âNurse?â, he asked. She turned around to him and said, âNo, Iâm not a nurse. They were unable to identify you and so you were brought here for Plan Zebra care. Itâs not much but it should keep you well. You just wonât be getting any visits from a nurse or doctor.â She went back to tending to the patient she had been working on. âPlan Zebra?â, he asked her. âYesâ, she said without turning around this time. âAre you saying youâve never heard of it? Maybe you arenât from around here. Your accent is similar to mine but somehow different. Where are you from?â. âI was born and raised in San Antonio, Texasâ, he said. âWhere am I?â. âSan Antonioâ?, she asked while turning around to look at him again. âI would have guessed you were from the China states but never from here. You dress strangely and your accent is odd, but if you say you are from here then Iâll take your word for it.â âIâm dressed strangely?â, he asked looking down. He wasnât dressed at all. âWell, you were dressed strangely, but the clothing was found to be offense and it was burned shortly after you arrived. As soon as you are feeling better youâll be given new clothes donated by the stateâ. âMy clothes were offense? How?â. She looked back and rolled her eyes at him, âSeriously? Where are you from? You act like you have no idea what Iâm talking aboutâ. âIâm sorry, I am not trying to offend you, but I feel a bit out of place. I am from San Antonio and I was only wearing bluâŚâ. âDONâT SAY IT!!!â, she yelled at him running to the side of his bed. He just looked at her shocked. âWhatâs wrong?â âYou really donât know?â, she asked looking at him. She pulled out a small handheld device and a light shot out from it and directly into his eyes. He closed them and held his hand up. âOpen your eyes for a momentâ, she said pushing his hands down. He opened his eyes and let her shine the light into them. She shot the light into his eyes again and moved the light from side to side searching for something. âDid you recently have an accident?â, she asked. âYesâ, he said. âI was driving home on Loop 1604 when a truck veered into my lane crushing my car. There was some strange liquid that filled my car and I thought I drownedâŚand then I wasâŚsomewhere elseâ. She put the light down. âHave you been to a Scan Master recently?â. âWhat?â, he asked. âI have no idea what that is. Are you talking about computers?â. She shook her head. âAre you a Conservative?â, she asked. He started laughing, âA what?â. He laughed some more but saw she wasnât laughing. âIâm going to need some help here. I believe Iâve found a Conservativeâ. Calvin looked at her oddly. What was she talking about and who was she talking too? Suddenly two large men walked in. The moved faster than Calvin would have thought possible. They scooped him out of bed and were out the door with him before he could say a word. They arenât men, Calvin realized. They were entirely glossy black and their hands and feet seemed to change as needed. Sometimes they looked human and sometimes they changed into claws or hooks to help pull them along quickly down the hall and up the stairs. Calvin could actually feel the wind in his face from their velocity. He guessed they moved about fifteen floors upstairs before they finally came to a stop. |
| Chapter | 1 | Chapter 10 | 6.51k |
| Chapter | 2 | Chapter 9 | 5.72k |
| Chapter | 3 | Chapter 8 | 5.89k |
| Chapter | 4 | Chapter 7 | 6.52k |
| Chapter | 5 | Chapter 6 | 6.13k |
| Chapter | 6 | Chapter 5 | 6.26k |
| Chapter | 7 | Chapter 4 | 5.15k |
| Chapter | 8 | Chapter 3 | 6.15k |
| Chapter | 9 | Chapter 2 | 6.75k |
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